This project represents an effort to begin to address some of the needs of, and to concomitantly develop a long-term plan to enhance, biomedical research in Montana. Long range objectives are i) to strengthen the quality and competitiveness of biomedical investigators in Montana and ii) to strengthen facilities, programs and resources that are essential for this development. This project is a true statewide effort that will encompass all units of the Montana University System and the private research institutes engaged in biomedical research. The immediate goal of this planning phase of the Program, to be carried out in the first year, is to focus upon faculty development (support for seed projects and release time) while developing the infrastructure to implement the long-term project. This approach was adopted for two reasons. First, the PI and Co-PI can use their long-standing experience with Montana's NSF EPSCoR Program to more easily develop a model that is more suitable to the research missions of the NIH. Second, there is agreement throughout the State that developing strong research programs from the very beginning of the project will help in the development of a stronger infrastructure. To accomplish objectives of the initial phase of this project we will: 1) Form a Science Advisory and Review Committee to review grant proposals and provide guidance for strategic planning of science enhancement; 2) Select and support the scientific projects that best fulfill criteria for faculty development and the strengthening of research capabilities in Montana; and 3) Initiate a scientific advising and review process to provide critical input that will improve the competitiveness of individual Pls, and that will help identify projects that can be developed in subsequent phases of this project.